Three parts of Sussex have been named among the least violent places in the country.

Wealden comes out top as the least violent place in Sussex, and the second least violent in England after Richmond upon Thames.

The study uses crime data from the UK government to work out the number of violent crimes per 100,000 residents.

Violent crimes, as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) defines them, are offences ranging from common assault to murder.

The term also encompasses the use of weapons such as firearms, knives and corrosive substances like acid.

In Wealden, there were 2,482 violent crimes in the year to March 2023.

This works out as 154 violent crimes per 100,000 people.

Also in the list was Mid Sussex, in fifth place with 2,421 violent crimes, at a rate of 158 violent crimes per 100,000 people.

Horsham was fourteenth. There were 2,600 violent crimes in the district in the year to March 2023, averaging at 176 incidents per 100,000.

The full list of the top 20 least violent places in England is:

  1. Richmond upon Thames
  2. Wealden
  3. Ribble Valley
  4. Wokingham
  5. Mid Sussex
  6. Waverley
  7. South Cambridgeshire
  8. North Kesteven
  9. South Staffordshire
  10. South Oxfordshire
  11. Rutland
  12. East Hertfordshire
  13. East Cambridgeshire
  14. Horsham
  15. West Oxfordshire
  16. Cotswold
  17. Central Bedfordshire
  18. Derbyshire Dales
  19. Three Rivers
  20. North Hertfordshire